Press Room
In the News 2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
Union Media Contacts
|
 |
Business Wire, April 6, 2006
UFCW 588-Northern California and UFCW 1288-Central California Combine to Form Union's Largest Affiliate in Western U.S.
Casting ballots in record numbers, UFCW members in Northern California and Central California voted by 85% to join forces, creating their Union's largest affiliate in the Western United States.
The new entity, called UFCW 8-Golden State, represents more than 30,000 members in 40 of California's 58 counties, from the Oregon border in the north through the Central Valley to Kern County in the south.
Members of UFCW 588-Northern California and UFCW 1288-Central California voted by mail to ratify the merger between March 17 and April 5, 2006.
Jacques Loveall, President of UFCW 588, will head the new UFCW affiliate. Don Hunsucker, President of UFCW 1288, will remain President of the UFCW Region 8 States Council, which represents 250,000 members in four states. He also has been named Special Assistant to UFCW International President Joe Hansen to work with the Change to Win labor federation on the West Coast.
Loveall said the merger increases the bargaining power of workers in Northern and Central California.
"Now is the time to prepare for our next round of negotiations," Loveall said. "When we sit at the bargaining table, we intend to be prepared with unprecedented size and strength.
"We believe in the power of unity and solidarity. We believe that all of the workers in the industries we represent should speak with one powerful voice," Loveall said.
"This is a great new day for all of us," Hunsucker said. "Together, we will wield our increased negotiating, organizing and political clout to improve the lives of working people."
Loveall noted that recent mergers have created large UFCW affiliates in New Jersey, Seattle and Chicago, among other places, implementing a longstanding policy of the international union.
Ken Jacobs, deputy chair of the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education, praised the merger, noting that it reflects a nationwide trend in the labor movement.
"Small, geographically-based unions made sense when employers were local operations," Jacobs said. "Today, when dealing with national and international companies with deep pockets, it's a different ballgame. Unions like the UFCW will have to find ways to restructure themselves in order to have leverage at the bargaining table. Merging local unions is a smart way to do that."
|
